Father’s love of music inspires graduate fellowship 

When Andrea Williams (’75 English, ’78 law) reminisces on her childhood, a few fond momentscome to mind. The most common is of her father, Robert Brenner, donning a tuxedo to play with his band every Saturday night. Another is of a crowd of strangers admiring his piano skills on a cruise ship, ooh-ing and ahh-ing as they mistook him for paid performer. Blended together are the many trips to New York City, where they sat in Broadway theaters and absorbed the dazzling performances of iconic stars, as well as homegrown productions her father starred in at the Florence Little Theater. One closer to home: attending a Billy Taylor concert with her father at the University of South Carolina.

Needless to say, music was a constant in the Brenner household. From an early age Williams and her siblings, Deborah and Steve, were enrolled in music lessons, a passion that sustains them even now. They were well-versed in the Great American Songbook, Williams likes to say, loving anything from Bach to Motown to rock to contemporary. But if her father had to choose only one genre, it would be jazz.

When he died in 2005, Brenner left behind not only an “illustrious career” as an entertainer and musician, but also an overwhelming love of the arts and dedication to using his talents to bring joy to others.

“To know Bob Brenner was to love him,” Williams says. “He was the consummate performer – you could not request a song he did not know.”

Despite her lengthy legal career as a former assistant city attorney and solo practitioner in Greenville, South Carolina, Williams’ “loyalty and allegiance” is to music. One afternoon, while brainstorming philanthropic opportunities with her son, she received a mailer detailing the story of a previous donor’s gift to USC. Having heard “overwhelmingly positive” things about the School of Music, Williams thought this was “meant to be” and immediately reached out to learn more about giving back.

“I have worked my entire life and tried to save for a future,” she says. “This is my future – honoring my father and trying to pay it forward. The School of Music is the best place I can think of to do this.”

Working closely with Audra Vaz, the assistant dean for advancement and lead senior director of development at the School of Music and Koger Center for the Arts, Williams developed the Robert S. Brenner Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund to support graduate-level students studying jazz piano. Even though she has dedicated her life to law, she believes “the arts are the most important thing we have in our lives” and finds satisfaction in knowing that musicians with a similar passion for their art will be able to pursue their degrees with less of a financial burden – all while furthering her father’s legacy.

She was so impressed with the program that she funded a second scholarship the following year.

“It was a beautiful thing for me to think that some student in need pursuing jazz could benefit from my support,” Williams says. “I wanted to change a life in some small way; I wanted to have an influence, to make it a little easier for some student pursuing an artistic endeavor.”